~ GOLDEN ~S, ~ See iisean m 2S ~ ss. : e } “az FERNIE 2 ee for Canada By NIGEL MORGAN At a comparatively unexplored spot in southeastern British Columbia is the na- tural setting for what is destined to become the world’s biggest. dam — Mica Creek. Here, high in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, 300 miles east of Vancouver and 93 miles north of Revelstoke, the mighty Columbia winds its way between two tower- ing Mountain ranges. Construction of a 700-foot high dam could harness forces that are capable of transforming B.C. into one of the greatest industrial regions of North America, if not the world. But Mica Creek is not only famous for its potentialities as one of the greatest engineer- ing projects in Canadian his- tory. It occupies the centre of the stage in one of the great- est dramas of this decade — the fight for Canada, for an independent, secure and pros- perous future for Canadians. In the two years since the Labor - Progressive party launched its campaign against Premier W. A. C. Bennett’s proposal to give away Colum- bia River water to Kaiser Al- uminium, public demand that the water be developed in Canada and for Canada has grown. Liberals, CCFers, trade un- ions and a wide range of popu- lar organizations, as well as . that the provincial daily press and the Financial Post, joined the outcry against the Kaiser deal. Thousands of people in the province signed the LPP peti- tion denouncing the giveaway. Subsequently, passage of federal Bill 7 — the Interna- tional Waters Act — tied the Kaiser deal in knots. Because the deal was block- ed US. hids for Columbia water power have been in- creased. The last session of the legis- lature was informed that the Kaiser interests were will- ing to pay $18 million for Columbia waters — one year after Premier Bennett had tried to convince the people $1 million would be a fine bargain. And even $18 million would be a paltry re- turn for surrendering control inland em- over a_ potential pire. . e' With a power potential of 34 million ki’owatts, the Co- limbia has a capacity almost five times that of the St. Lawrence River. It equals the great Volga-Don system of the USSR in its possibilities. Canadian engineers estim- ate that the Columbia _ice- fiela could activate 26 million kilowatts in hydro-electric energy for -this country, pro- vided surplus storage in the Canadian half of the Columbia is used in Canada instead of the U.S. Today it has become one of the central questions of pro- vincial po‘itics. Will Colum- bia waters be harnessed under Canadian control to produce hydro-electric power needed for industrial development of B.C., or will they be used, as Premier Bennett has proposed, primarily to increase the pow- > er resources of the U.S.? What are estimated power needs of B.C.? The present rate of growth— the highest anywhere in North America and one of the high- est in the world — amounts to an increase of 15 percent a year. At this rate which seems more likely to increase than decrease power re- auirements will double in five years, and double again with- in ten years. The government’s B.C. Pow- er Commission has announced it expects to have to meet treble.the present requirement by 1961, and the B.C. Electric says it expects to double its loac within six years. These anticipated require- ments expose the shortsight- edness of Socred giveaway po icies. The difficulties and obstacles which have to be overcome to protect valuable fisheries on remaining rivers before harnessing them for power development, no less that recent announcements that the government has been forced to begin investigation of the feasibility of thermal generation of electricity by coal-steam, point up the urg- ency of power conservation. Mica Creek is the site for Canada’s biggest single power project. But the’ Bennett gov- ernment seems intent on turn- ing it over to U.S. control. First, Bennett tried to sneak through the initial U.S..pro- position of storage dams only.” Then he tried, again un- successfully, to sell Columbia water power for $18 mil.ion. Now for Canadian-U.S. top- level discussions, he has a new plan. Last March, Prime Minister St. Laurent and President Fisenhower met at White Sulphur Spring. A terse an- nouncement stated , that a- mongst other things’ they would confer “on the use of boundary waters, including the disputed development of the Columbia River.” later Liberal Senator Tom Reid announced that he expected an “early U.S.-Canada agreement;” that the Mica Creek decision would be known within three months. Subsequent announce- ments by the Canadian repre- sentative on the International Joint Commission, General A. G. L. MacNaughton (revers- ing bitter opposition to Socred plans) and government spokes- man, show that the federal Two weeks Liberals (who sold short ca ada’s vital interest in the Lawrence Seaway) cannot bé depended to defend our righ on the Columbia. q As a result of' U.S. pressuré at top government level an in view of recent federal ane nouncements, Bennett lost n@ time in announcing his new plan. On his return from Wall Street he told newspapermell that he “wants Americans build the gigantic Mica Creek dam,.turn it over to Canadians, ‘rand deliver 20 percent of the increased U.S. output.” 4 The federal government © evidently prepared to go along with Bennett’s plan, except that it wants a 50 percent r turn on U.S. downstream ben fits, estimated to be worth al edditional 14,000,000,000 kilo= watt hours of extra power @ year. Resources Minister Jeatl Lesage will fly to Victoria th coming week to confer wi Bennett in preparation f further discussions im Was ington at the end of the sum mer. In those discussions the ec nomic destiny of British Co7 lumbia “and western Canada will be at stake. Canadag right to develop and utilize the Canadian section of the Columbia under the Bound™ ary Waters Treaty, of 1909 18 indisputable. The public will” deal very harshly with any) authority that permits a hasty development now for small benefits to Canada, instead of a proper, long-term program: For less than the federal Sovernment was spending fol war every three months if} 1944-45, the Columbia could” be harnessed by Canadians for the benefit of Canadians. Instead of continuing his” efforts to turn this irreplace7 eble resource over to a U.S: monoply, Premier Bennett should seek federal aid in de- veloping the Columbia now and linking this vast water shed to a greater B.C.-Albert@ pewer grid, thus opening up a new era of development for our western provinces. The B.C. Power Commission, which is already established at Whatshan on the Columbia Waterway, should be expand- ed to harness the entire Co- lumibia:- water system, and pro- vide electric power at cost This is the way to an abund ant supply of low-cost energy for the future. This is wha British Columbia needs, and” what the vast majority of British Co’umbians want. ‘A quote to “JHE RISK we ave now taking has not been cal- culated. We are playing with knowing only that the flame is hot and that we as material are inflammable .. . If we don’t worry about ourselves, we should at least worry about the quality of our descendants. The test bomb explosions are ine | excusable and should cease.”’ remember anew kind of fire, Prof. N. J. Berrill of McGill University on the effects of radiation. June 29, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 12